This invention relates to an automatic cutting apparatus for cutting materials such as fabric and cloth and the like with a laser beam, and more particularly, to an automatic cloth cutter which is capable of modifying cutting conditions so as to accommodate characteristics such as thickness and the like of material.
A conventional automatic cloth cutter 1 for cutting material with a laser beam, as shown in FIG. 4, has previously been designed to comprise therein a generator 2 such as a laser resonator for outputting or projecting a laser beam 2a, a plurality of mirrors 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d through which the laser beam 2a passes, and a cutting head 4 to which the beam 2a is led. The cutting head 4 is provided in the interior thereof with a laser beam reduction lens 4a which is adapted to reduce the spot diameter of the laser beam 2a led to the cutting head 4.
The cloth cutter 1 is formed at its top surface 5 and its opposite sides with a pair of shafts 6a, 6b disposed in parallel with each other, and another shaft 7 slidably supported between the shafts 6a and 6b. The cutting head 4 is so mounted on the shaft 5 as to move on the top surface 5 in the X or Y direction and in parallel with the shafts 6a, 6b or the shaft 7 by means of a carrier or transfer means (not shown).
A control means (not shown) is incorporated in the cutter 1 for providing various controls and includes a control panel 8 connected to the control means. The control panel 8 is adapted to operate a switch element 8a on the top surface to transmit a control signal to the control means for controlling the control means, thereby transferring the cutting head 4 in the X or Y direction. The cloth (not shown) to be cut is laid on the top surface 5 of the cutter 1 and then cut in the desired dimension or shape by operating the control panel 8 with the generator 2 or laser resonator into the "on" position to transfer the laser resonator 2 in the X or Y direction.
However, disadvantages derived from such conventional automated cloth cutting apparatus that intensity of the laser output of the laser beam 2a from the laser resonator 2 and transferring speed (cutting speed) of the cutting head 4 are invaluable to render its value substantially constant, are discussed hereinafter.
More specifically, cloths for use in making the apparel are formed of natural fiber, chemical fiber, synthetic fiber, and fiber composed thereof or the like and are of different thickness according to seasons even if they are made of the same material. For this reason, when the cloth is so cut under optimum conditions as to accommodate it to the nature of material, more the cutting apparatuses are required to fulfill the respective conditions to thus not only entail more cost but also involve more space.
Consequently, for the purpose of cutting all the cloths with one cutter, the cutter is arranged to provide cutting capability to meet the nature of the cloth under the critical conditions. However, if the cutter is provided with such cutting capability suited to the cloth under the critical condition, this cutter is suitable for cutting thicker cloths such as 14 oz. denim, and wool and the like for an overcoat. In contrast, if a cutter of this class is used for cutting light cloth or cloth of chemical fiber unresistant to heat, this will waste much energy to this end and wear the top surface (cutting panel) of the cutter or will melt and stick the cut cloth to the panel and involve unevenness of quality of the cloth surface as cut.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an automated cloth cutting apparatus capable of ensuring cutting of the cloth in a suitable manner.
Another object of the invention is to provide an automated cloth cutting apparatus which is able to cut the cloth in a preferred condition to match the characteristics of the cloth.
An advantage of the invention is that laser output and/or speed may be set by only one cutting apparatus under the optimum cutting conditions according to characteristics such as a weight and a thickness and the like of a material for the cloth as available so that energy may not be wasted and the cut cloth of high quality and at high cutting efficiency may be obtained.
A further advantage of the invention is that the cutting apparatus is capable of minimizing wear and damage on the surface, thereby assuring the apparatus long operating life without no ill effect to the laser beam.